P573: PHARMACOKINETIC EXPOSURE EQUIVALENCE AND PRELIMINARY EFFICACY AND SAFETY FROM A RANDOMIZED CROSS OVER PHASE 3 STUDY OF AN ORAL HYPOMETHYLATING AGENT DEC-C COMPARED TO IV DECITABINE IN AML PATIENTS
Authors: K. Geissler, Z. Koristek, T. Bernal del Castillo, J. Novák, G. Rodriguez Macias, S. K. Metzelder, A. Illes, A. Nagy, J. Mayer, M. Arnan, M.-M. Keating, J. Krauter, M. Lunghi, N. Stefano Fracchiolla, U. Platzbecker, V. Santini, Y. Sano, A. Oganesian, H. Keer, M. Lübbert
Journal: HemaSphere (2022)

Background: Parenterally administered hypomethylating agents (HMAs), decitabine (DEC) and azacitidine (AZA), are approved in Europe for adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are not candidates for standard induction chemotherapy as single agent or in combination with venetoclax. ASTX727 (DEC-C) is a fixed dose combination (FDC) tablet of 35 mg DEC and 100 mg cedazuridine, a novel cytidine deaminase inhibitor (CDAi). In clinical trials with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)/chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) patients, DEC-C provides DEC exposures that are equivalent to IV DEC at the approved dose of 20 mg/m2 daily×5 and is approved as INQOVI® in the US, Canada, and Australia. Aims: To demonstrate DEC exposure bioequivalence of oral DEC-C and IV-DEC and generate clinical data using DEC-C in AML patients. Methods: The ASCERTAIN study was a randomized cross over design. Patients were randomized 1:1 to either Sequence A: DEC-C (35 mg DEC/100 mg cedazuridine) in Cycle 1 followed by IV-DEC at 20 mg/m2 in Cycle 2, or Sequence B: receiving IV-DEC in Cycle 1 followed by DEC-C on Cycle 2 to compare PK [primary endpoint Area Under the Curve (AUC) equivalence over 5 days of dosing]. All patients received DEC-C from Cycle 3 onwards until treatment discontinuation to assess safety and clinical efficacy. Patients were eligible as per the EMA-approved decitabine label (newly diagnosed AML who are not candidates for standard induction chemotherapy). Clinical responses were assessed according to modified International Working Group (IWG) 2003 response criteria. Results: 89 patients were randomized, of whom 87 were treated. The median age of patients was 78.0 years (range, 61 to 92) with 31 (35.6%) males and 56 (64.4%) females. Cytogenetic risk classification was poor-risk in 33 (37.9%) and intermediate-risk in 45 (51.7%) patients. For the primary endpoint, preliminary PK data was available from 69 patients who successfully completed PK assessments for both IV DEC and DEC-C cycles, and the DEC AUC0-24 (h*ng/mL) 5-Day geometric mean estimate was 904 for DEC-C and 907 for IV-DEC resulting in an oral/IV geometric LSM AUC ratio of 99.64% (90% CI of 91.23-108.8%). Safety findings were consistent with those anticipated for IV-DEC (related Grade ≥ 3 AEs in more than 10% were thrombocytopenia, anemia, febrile neutropenia, neutropenia, and pneumonia). As of the data cutoff date (10 SEP 2021), median follow up was 7.95 months (IQR 6.11-11.86). Of the 77 patients who had ≥6 months of follow up or discontinued treatment, the best response was complete response (CR) in 17 (22.1%, 95% CI: 13.4, 33.0%). In addition, 4 patients (5.2%) had CR with incomplete blood cell count recovery (CRi), with 1 patient (1.3%) who had CR with incomplete platelet recovery (CRp), resulting in composite response rate [CR + CRp] of 23.4% [18/77 patients, 95% CI: 14.5, 34.4%]. These results obtained with DEC-C are consistent with those observed for IV DEC. Based on preliminary and limited study follow-up with ~46% censored observations, the median survival was approximately 7.9 months (95% CI: 5.9, 13.0). Summary/Conclusion: This randomized phase 3 study in AML patients not candidates for standard induction chemotherapy demonstrates that the oral FDC of DEC-C (35mg/100 mg) resulted in an equivalent DEC AUC exposure to IV-DEC at 20 mg/m2 over 5 days. In addition, safety findings and preliminary clinical activity is also consistent with published data from IV-DEC, suggesting that DEC-C has the potential to be an oral alternative to the standard IV decitabine Daily×5 regimen.